Blogger S. Azmat Hassan analyzes the recent policy talks between U.S. and Pakistani officials. He explains that, as is often the case between a superpower and a much weaker country, the relationship brightens up when the former needs the latter in some capacity. But, it reverts to the doldrums when that requirement subsides.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there were global implications of al-Qaeda's efforts to use Yemen as a base for terrorist attacks far beyond the Middle East. This warning came as Yemeni officials said security forces killed two al-Qaeda fighters in a gun battle. Daljit Dhaliwal interviews Juan Carlos Zarate, and Omar Al Saleh reports for Al Jazeera English.

Clinton swung by the predominantly Muslim autonomous republic at the end of her three-day trip to Russia this week. After visiting the Kazan Kremlin, the Blagoveshchensk Orthodox Cathedral, and the newly built Kol Sharif Mosque, Clinton praised the republic as a "model for tolerance and coexistence between Muslims and Christians," writes Christine Kiernan.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country with vast natural resources that for years has been plagued by civil war and sexual violence. Severinne Autesserre of Barnard College discuss how the country's government and people will respond to Clinton's message.

On her African tour, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to expand American support for Somalia's weak interim government as it struggles against Islamic extremists. Emira Woods of the Institute for Policy Studies discusses Clinton's agenda in Africa and U.S. goals in Somalia.